The Guardians of the Galaxy are gearing up for one last ride in the MCU.
Will critics pump the brakes on this blaze of glory?
So far, the reactions have been largely positive, though some have a few complaints.
After a complicated production history, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."
finally hits theaters on May 5, 2023, bringing director James Gunn's Marvel Cinematic Universe
space opera to a heartstring-tugging conclusion that centers around the extremely tragic backstory
of Bradley Cooper's Rocket.
"Me and my friends are gonna go flyin' together, into the forever and beautiful sky."
Now that some people have already been able to see the movie a little early, eagerly-awaited
first reactions have started to arrive.
Fortunately for fans of the series, many of these first impressions are nothing short
of stellar.
But there are also those who have spotted some strain at the seams.
Steven Weintraub of Collider was among those enamored by the film, praising the experience
of seeing the movie in IMAX and tweeting,
"Loved #GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3.
@JamesGunn is leaving Marvel with an exceptional last film and it's loaded with so many great
moments it's hard to pick my favorite scene."
Verge's Charles Pulliam was somewhat more critical, finding that the film leaned a bit
too much on the wrong things.
He tweeted,
"Guardians of the Galaxy 3's very pretty, too jokey, and hinges on you still being wrapped
up in the emotional fervor of Endgame, which I don't think a lot of people are."
"Her dad threw her off a magic cliff and she died, and then I lost my temper and nearly
destroyed half the universe."
A lot of people who have seen the movie early do seem to have that emotional fervor, though.
Gunn's final work for the MCU has been a long time coming, and more than one first reaction
specifically advised the viewer to bring tissues because of the sheer emotional impact.
For example, Leo Rydel of Geekly Goods enthused on Twitter,
"Emotional, action packed, comedic, and a tone that delivers.
GRAB THE TISSUES cause DAMN there are some MOMENTS man!!
Rocket is the MAN!!
Music choices Great per usual and VFX deliver!
HAD A BLAST!"
Andrew J. Salazar of Discussing Film agreed, tweeting,
"#GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3 has the most heart & soul from any MCU film in a long time.
At times it's hard to believe that Gunn got away with so much of this, in the best way possible.
You're going to need tissues, but not for the reasons you're expecting."
Several others, like Mike Ryan of Uproxx and Sean Tajipour of Nerdtropolis, also praised
the movie and the emotional punch it packs, while Pop Cult Planet and MTV's Kristen Maldonado
credited "Vol. 3" for breathing new life in the genre, tweeting,
"After so much superhero movie fatigue, #GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3 is a refreshing & unexpected joy to watch."
Even the critical first impressions that weren't entirely praise seem to be mostly positive
about the film, pointing out individual issues rather than outright lambasting "Vol. 3" as
a whole.
Hoai-Tran Bui of Inverse saw good things in the movie, but lamented its apparent lack
of stakes in the grander scheme of things.
She tweeted,
"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 is the STAR TREK BEYOND of the series, in the best and
not-so-best ways.
But Gunn is really good at this whole disarmingly earnest superhero thing, and even more so
when he unleashes his old Troma instincts.
Wish it felt less like a side quest tho."
"We're listening to everything you're saying."
"And it is painful."
Alex Madden, who reviews films on YouTube, felt the movie couldn't quite deliver on the
level the very first "Guardians of the Galaxy" did, but still rated it above "Vol. 2.," tweeting,
"#GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3 takes a lot of big swings and mostly delivers.
A couple hiccups here and there but the glue that holds this movie together is definitely Rocket."
Meanwhile, Matt Neglia of Next Best Picture took a harsher approach.
He praised the visuals, but said the rest was a mixed bag, tweeting,
"GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 aspires for sweeping emotion, gut busting laughs & thrilling action.
It sometimes succeeds but as a send off for all of these characters, it feels strangely
uneven & anticlimactic."
It seems that the people who enjoyed seeing "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" love it very,
very much, and even the ones who weren't quite so swept away with it found plenty of good
to go with the bad.